Over the past five years, Black Friday has evolved from a single day to snag big sales in U.S. stores into a multi-channel discounting period that begins as early as three weeks before the actual date of the event, which kicks off the Friday after Thanksgiving.

In a survey of 500 shoppers, market research firm Lab42 found that nearly a quarter of American adults plan to start shopping before 3 a.m. on Black Friday. Many retailers, including Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s, plan to open their doors at midnight, and online retailers will be posting deals at midnight as well.

Though many will begin early, 42% of those in the survey said they don’t feel the need to rush, because they think the same deals will be available at a later date. Others — around two-thirds — plan to shop Cyber Monday deals as well, so they won’t be running up their full holiday spending budgets on Black Friday.

On average, shoppers plan to spend more money ($900 vs. $854 last season) and start shopping earlier this year than in years past, according to separate survey data from Google.

Fancy parties, presents, home cooked meals — there’s a lot to look forward to as the holiday season approaches. But the American public has a message for retailers: not so fast with the Christmas decor; focus on preparing for Cyber Monday instead.

According to a new survey of 2,346 American adults, 75% think stores shouldn’t put up Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. That same number of people think stores should focus on Cyber Monday preparations, and dedicate a website to Cyber Monday shopping only — just in case the immense traffic causes a popular online shopping destination to crash.

Retailers might be wise to heed these requests, especially since Cyber Monday is surpassing Black Friday. Last year, Cyber Monday sales topped $1.25 billion in the U.S., up 22% from 2010.

Earlier this month, a survey showed 51% of shoppers are more likely to shop online this year because of the bad economy, and 31% of those people said they’ll also stay away from physical stores because shoppers might be too aggressive.

Of the 75% who will shop online, 69% will access the sites through their home computer, 17% will use their work computer, 44% will use an app or website through their tablet and 34% said they’ll shop using their smartphone.

Stores will still likely dive into early decorating even after learning this information. But it’s interesting to note how much importance shoppers place on having stores’ websites function during the holiday shopping season; percentage-wise it’s up there with the much debated issue of early decorating.

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of SOASTA, a web performance and analytics company that gets major websites ready for Cyber Monday. shopping. It surveyed 2,346 adults, age 18 and older, between this Sept. 17 and Sept. 19.

Where did you do your holiday shopping last year? Tell us in the comments below.